Build a GitHub-Hosted Blog with Jekyll Now

By . in Blogging. Updated on .

Jekyll is a platform used for static websites that just want to publish content quickly. The biggest issue with Jekyll is the reliance on command line methods. If you’re not CLI-friendly then you’ll never bother to touch Jekyll.

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Thankfully, you can get an easy intro with Jekyll Now, a free tool used for cloning & launching your own Jekyll blog right on GitHub.

jekyll now preview

Naturally, Jekyll Now is completely free and it’s all powered by GitHub, so your links should be online forever.

The only downside is that this technique will not work for your self-hosted domain. Unfortunately, there really is a lot to Jekyll, and if you want it running locally then you’ll need to pick up the documentation and practice.

Jekyll Now is the perfect tool for complete newbies who want to try Jekyll and see what it’s all about.

You simply clone a Jekyll repo into your own GitHub account, rename it, and you should be set to go. It comes with a default responsive theme and settings for writing your own posts, so the process shouldn’t take more than five minutes.

Here are the steps:

  1. Fork Jekyll Now from this repo.
  2. Edit the _config.yml file to add a site name.
  3. Write your first blog post!

Each of these three steps is covered in the Jekyll Now setup guide with greater detail and a small FAQ section.

To actually write posts on Jekyll you will need to understand basic Markdown. You can learn more from this page hosted on the Jekyll Now website.

There’s actually a lot you can learn from the Jekyll Now website so I definitely recommend checking it out before you do anything else. You’ll find animated GIFs demonstrating each step in the process along with helpful text and tips if you get lost.

step by step jekyllnow

There really is no easier way to break into Jekyll than with Jekyll Now. It’s the absolute best beginner’s tool for learning and publishing a Jekyll blog online.

If you’re brand new then follow the quick start guide, and see where it takes you. By the end, you should have a running blog and you can even customize it with free themes like these:

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